TIMES.KY

Cayman Islands, Caribbeanand International News
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

William and Kate cancel Belize village trip due to protests against the monarchs crimes and refusal to pay for the fortune they’ve made from slavery

William and Kate cancel Belize village trip due to protests against the monarchs crimes and refusal to pay for the fortune they’ve made from slavery

Chairman of Indian Creek village tells media residents don’t want Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to land helicopter there
Protests by local residents have forced the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to cancel a trip to a Belize village that was scheduled to kick off their Caribbean tour, after residents protested against it.

Opposition to the royal excursion had arisen from a dispute between residents of Toledo district and Flora and Fauna International (FFI), a conservation charity Prince William is a patron of.

He and Kate were expected to visit the Akte‘il Ha cacao farm in Indian Creek on the first full day of their charm offensive in the region, but their office cancelled the engagement on Friday.

It comes as they undertake a tour of Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas which is seen as an attempt to drum up support for the monarchy and persuade other nations not to follow Barbados by choosing to become a republic.

The Belize landing site of William and Kate’s helicopter – a local football pitch – caused further issues with residents, who claim they had not been consulted about it.

The local broadcaster Channel 7 described the tensions between the citizens and the state as about the “meaning of consent in the context of communal land rights, rights to lands that were expunged in the colonial period by the British”.

The chair of Indian Creek village, Sebastian Shol, told the Daily Mail: “We don’t want them to land on our land, that’s the message that we want to send.

“They could land anywhere, but not on our land.”

A Kensington Palace spokesperson said: “We can confirm that due to sensitive issues involving the community in Indian Creek, the visit has been moved to a different location. Further details will be provided in due course.”

The Belize government said in a statement: “Indian Creek was one of several sites being considered. Due to issues in the village, the government of Belize activated its contingency planning and another venue has been selected to showcase Maya family entrepreneurship in the cacao industry.”

In a statement, FFI said it had purchased land at the nearby Boden Creek from private owners in December 2021, and that it would conserve and protect the area’s wildlife while supporting the livelihoods and traditional rights of local people.

Without directly addressing the dispute, FFI said it bought the land to benefit the area’s ecological integrity, resident communities and Belize as a whole, and pledged to maintain “open and continuous dialogue” with the local community.

The couple are scheduled to land in Belize on Saturday afternoon in Voyager, the ministerial jet. The country’s governor general, Froyla Tzalam, will welcome the couple – along with their entourage of 15, including a hairdresser, private secretaries and press team, before they head to Belize City to meet the prime minister, Johnny Briceño.

Windrush campaigners and Caribbean experts have criticised the tour, saying the UK should be actively helping nations to cut ties with the monarchy rather than convincing them to stay.

“Britain still has key legal and economic ties, which makes it difficult for a country like Jamaica to be truly independent,” the author and Windrush campaigner Patrick Vernon said.

“This year is an opportunity for people to reflect: do we want to be a republic, and what does that mean? If Jamaica decided it did, there would be a domino effect on the rest of the English-speaking Caribbean.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

TIMES.KY
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×